Heretofore, various types of key controlled security boxes for hotel and motel rooms and the like has been provided, in response to recognition that the prior practice of allowing hotel guests to deposit their valuables in the hotel safe was inconvenient and was not widely used except for safeguarding articles of high value such as fine jewelry, expensive cameras and the like. The need was recognized to provide a convenient means for security storage of valuables in each hotel or motel room wherein control of the lock was readily changeable for each change of the occupant of the room.
Security storage containers which have been heretofore provided especially adapted for use in the guest rooms of hotels and motels have been frequently designed to be secured to the wall or floor in the hotel room closet and, in many cases, were coin operated, key locked containers wherein the key was removable from the lock only after deposit of a coin in an appropriate coin receiving and sensing mechanism associated with the key lock.
An object of the present invention is the provision of an electronic safe lock for hotel and motel room safes and the like which retains the security of mechanical locking mechanisms but employs electronic technology to provide logic, memory and reliability of operation, wherein the occupant of the room can enter the occupant's personal choice of a personal identification number code, and which is capable of being changed for each new occupant of the room.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an electronic safe lock for hotel and motel room security storage containers or safes which include a microprocessor-controlled programmable electronic safe lock, which includes a master code for operation of the lock by the hotel proprietor or hotel management, and which is more reliable than solenoid operated electrical or electronic locks.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of an electronic safe lock as described in the two preceding paragraphs, wherein positive locking of the bolt by an overcenter slip clutch mechanism is provided, and which includes protection from damage in the event of the bolt becoming jammed by the door jam.
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a safe lock as described in the preceding paragraphs, wherein phototransistor sensors are provided to ensure reliable detection of the position of selected components of the mechanism to provide for reliable operation, and wherein display means are provided which indicates the status of the lock during operation thereof.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.